stay awake (don't nod and dream)
by AtLoLevad
Summary: 5 times Scott McCall's daughter wakes Lydia Martin and Stiles Stilinski in the middle of the night.


i.

It's been a long time since Stiles or Lydia were heavy sleepers. It doesn't take much to wake them, a particularly strong gust of wind knocking tree branches against the window or the sounds of their old house settling is more than enough to have one or both of them groggily stirring in bed to ask the other if anything was wrong.

Lydia's a heavier sleeper than Stiles though. She's in her own head more, the meditating she learned from Meredith keeping her away from consciousness longer. The voices tire her out too. She's learned to control them and tune them out and work through the day without debilitating headaches, but still. That concerted effort takes a lot out of her. Her traumas keep her awake, just like Stiles', but she's a banshee and those powers also protect her.

So it's not really all that surprising when Stiles jolts awake at the sound of footsteps coming towards their bedroom. Lydia sighs in her sleep, but doesn't move. Stiles squints into the darkness, hoping nothing supernatural is in their home. He really doesn't want to deal with that right now.

Tiny fingers wrap around the doorframe and a second later 4-year-old Cassie McCall's face pokes into view. Stiles huffs a relieved sigh, also feeling slightly foolish for not immediately thinking that the noise would be Cassie.

"Hey Cass," he whispers, "Whatsa matter?"

Without answering, Cassie lifts her thumb to her mouth and plants it firmly under her top teeth. Stiles winces. Scott and his wife, Lena, had been trying to break their daughter of the bad habit. And they'd been doing a good job, right up until Cassie had come to stay with Stiles and Lydia for the weekend.

Damn, Scott was gonna kill him.

"Had a nigh'mare," she mumbles around her thumb and now that Stiles' eyes are adjusting to the lack of light, he can see that her big brown eyes are full of tears.

Stiles wiggles his fingers at her, "Well, come on up then. Aunt Lydia and I are _awesome_ at scaring away nightmares."

It's such a freaking bald-faced lie, but what the hell's he supposed to tell his niece? That he and Lydia have been having nightmares since they were 16 and they never go away, not for them. That as they've gotten older, the nightmares don't come as frequently, but when they do they're so much worse because now they've got each other to lose? He shudders, no, this is Cassie's easily solvable nightmare, and not Stiles and Lydia's deep seated ones.

Cassie shuffles her feet a little, hesitant. Stiles tries not to take offense. Cassie's little and she's never really spent this much alone time with them. Add in the emotions from her nightmare and Stiles completely understands her skittishness.

Stiles throws back the covers, very grateful that Lydia had put a sex ban into effect while Cassie was here. Anything less than his Star Wars patterned flannel pants and t-shirt would definitely be inappropriate.

"Come on, kiddo," Stiles says gently. "You can't fall asleep standing up. That'd be silly!"

Cassie grins at him, "Mama says cows sleep standin' up."

"But you're not a cow?" Stiles fakes confusion. "Are you? You do like to drink a lot of milk! Can you moo?"

With a giggle, Cassie runs into the bedroom and clambers up onto the bed, "I'm not a cow, Uncle Stiles! I'm Cassie!"

Stiles shakes his head and hits his forehead with the heel of his palm, "Of course! I'm so silly."

He shifts Cassie so she's in between him and Lydia and in no danger of falling off the bed. He's kind of surprised that Lydia hasn't woken up, but then her head lifts from the pillow and, yup, there she is, of course she woke up.

"You okay, Cassie-bug?" Lydia mumbles, eyes still clouded with sleep and hair matted on one side.

Cassie nods, "Mhm. Had a nigh'mare."

Lydia sighs sympathetically and opens her arms for Cassie to snuggle against her. "Ooh, you made the right choice coming in here. Uncle Stiles and I can snuggle the nightmares away."

Cassie curls her tiny body against Lydia's, tucking her head under Lydia's chin and grabbing a fistful of shirt. The little girl yawns and rubs at her eyes with her free hand. Lydia looks up at her husband with sleepy eyes and grins.

Stiles is kind of blown away that this is his life. That Lydia loves him and looks at him with those eyes, the softness that never would've been seen in a younger, teenaged Lydia. That she's in his bed, wearing his ring, still in love with him after more than 10 years together.

"Come on, Uncle Stiles," she laughs quietly, "Snuggle the nightmares away."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Stiles grins back and wraps his arms around both girls, running his fingertips over Lydia's back until he feels her breath fall into a steady rhythm. Cassie's the next to fall asleep after she wiggles around for a little bit, all pointy elbows and knees digging into his sides, to find a comfortable spot.

Stiles barely has time to enjoy the sight of her wife and niece all curled up together before he's asleep too.

ii.

Stiles and Lydia are both up late the next time Cassie is staying with them and comes into their room. Lydia is scribbling feverishly at a set of theorems she needs to crack for her research and Stiles is going over a case file, trying to decide if the latest crime is supernatural or not. He's leaning towards not, but something about the crime scene photos gives him pause. He holds up one photo and opens his mouth to ask Lydia her opinion, when:

"Aunt Lyd? Uncle Stiles?" Cassie pokes her head into their room and both adults jump a little at the noise, so engrossed in their work that they hadn't heard her coming.

"Hey Cass," Lydia says warmly. "What happened, honey?"

Cassie's brown eyes - an exact copy of Scott's - are wide in fear. "There's a monster under the bed!"

She squeaks at the scratching sound that echoes around the house and bolts for the bed, throwing her body onto the mattress.

The scratching is literally just their mutt, Yoda, getting restless from a dream, but Cassie has no way of knowing that.

Stiles and Lydia share a look. From any other kid, in any other town this would just be a normal childhood occurrence. But this is Scott McCall's daughter and their home is only half an hour outside of Beacon Hills, so yeah, monster under the bed may be an entirely realistic possibility.

Stiles grabs the back of Cassie's pajama top and hauls her onto the bed. She smiles her thanks and then kicks at his thigh, "Go get the monster, Uncle Stiles!"

Stiles and Lydia share another look over Cassie's head and before he knows it, Stiles is springing out of bed.

"Gotta get my trusty monster hunting bat," he grins at the little girl, before snatching up the old bat.

He gets cocky and flips the bat, expecting to catch it easily. But, of course, this is Stiles and he overestimates and the bat knocks him right on the forehead.

He groans and rubs at the already red spot on his forehead. Lydia and Cassie giggle behind him. Stiles shoots a glare at Lydia, but she only laughs harder and waves him along with her fingers.

"Go ahead, hunt some monsters."

Stiles watches as she wraps her arms around Cassie's shoulders and tugs the little girl close. Lydia's messy red hair falls around both of them like a curtain as his wife leans down to whisper in their niece's ear. She's probably asking Cassie what the monster looks like. They've learned that apparently, good parenting (or, in their case, good aunt-and-uncle-ing) means you shouldn't discount the silly, stupid things. Kids think the monster under their bed is real, so you have to "get rid of it." He backs out of the room, ready to banish the "monster" so they can all go to sleep.

Stiles is reminded of his own mom in moments like this. She never discounted anything he said, never made him feel stupid or silly or childish. He's glad he can do that for Cassie and he'll do it for Scott and Lena's next baby too.

He yawns as he pads down the hallway, swinging the bat loosely in his hand. Halfway to the guest room, he's aware of the soft footsteps and quiet whispers behind him. He'd be nervous if he didn't recognize the scent of Lydia's shampoo.

"What?" he grins, turning around, "Didn't trust me to get rid of the monster on my own?"

Cassie, safely perched on Lydia's hip, scrunches her nose. "Aunt Lyd says you're s'posed to see stuff with your own eyes to make sure it happened."

Lydia smirks a little at Stiles.

"She's only saying that 'cause she doesn't think I beat your dad at the charity lacrosse game. But it happened! It happened, Lyds! I beat Scotty and it was fair and square!" he says emphatically, arms waving in the air. Cassie giggles at his antics.

"Whatever you say, Stiles," Lydia says. "But, I never saw it happen."

"It happened, Lydia!" he insists stubbornly. She steps forward and nudges him with the heel of her palm.

"Come on. Let's get a move on so Bug can go back to bed," Lydia replies, because the little girl is getting heavy in her arms and it's late and they both have work early in the morning. Besides, if she let him, Stiles could argue with her all night. Not that she minds. Bickering and bantering is kind of their thing.

"Yeah," Cassie pipes up. "I'm sleepy."

"Alright, alright," Stiles salutes then sloppily, and spins on his heel to continue down the hallway towards the guest room. Lydia and Cassie follow close behind.

Once in the room, Stiles takes a dramatic flying leap and lands, stomach down, on the mattress. Cassie giggles and Lydia rolls her eyes with an affectionate sigh.

"See anything?" Lydia asks, watching as Stiles' head dangles off the edge of the bed. She imagines his face is turning bright red. Cassie lunges out of her arms and Lydia scrambles to keep a grip on the little girl. It's useless and Cassie happily tumbles to the mattress.

"Yeah, see anything?" the little girl mimics, crawling to the edge of the bed. "He was big and green and had fangs!" She leans off the edge of the bed to try and look underneath like Stiles. Lydia reaches forward and catches hold of Cassie's ankle so she doesn't go hitting her head on the floor.

Lydia takes note of the "monster's" color though. Lena is literally in labor with her's and Scott's second kid. Maybe Cassie isn't as well adjusted to the thought of a new sibling as they'd all thought.

"I'm not seeing anything," Stiles says. "I think you mighta scared him off, Cass."

Stiles leans back and rests on his haunches. He grins at Scott's daughter, "You're just as scary as your dad when he hasn't gotten enough sleep!"

Cassie looks immensely proud of herself. For as much as she looks like Lena, Cassie is a Daddy's Girl through and through. "I'm scary like Daddy?"

"Yup," Stiles laughs, wrapping his arms around Cassie in a hug and mock growling at her. He tickles her side as Cassie laughs maniacally. Lydia looks on with a small smile forming. The two of them are definitely going to wake the dog and Stiles has totally riled Cassie up beyond her being able to go back to bed, but the picture is adorable.

Suddenly, two hands shoot out and grab hold of Lydia and before she knows it, Stiles and Cassie had pulled her onto the bed with them.

"Stiles!" she yelps, laughing despite herself as they gang up on her and start tickling relentlessly. "This isn't fair!"

"Life's not fair, Lyds," Stiles laughs and god, if that isn't true. As his lighthearted comment sinks in, both adults sober up a little, much to Cassie's displeasure.

"Hey! No more tickles?" she grumbles, curling up on Stiles' lap and yawning a little.

"Nah," Stiles shares a look with Lydia over Cassie's head. Lydia's chewing at her lower lip, looking a little distressed. Because Lydia loves Lena, loves the fact that Scott found a smart, beautiful woman to marry and raise children with, but there's always a small, mean part of her that thinks Allison. This should be Allison's daughter waking them up, should be Allison who is having another baby, Allison who Scott should be with. Allison, Allison, Allison.

Stiles immediately feels bad for ruining the mood, even though he didn't mean to.

"No more tickles, kiddo. But, maybe, Aunt Lydia and I can stay here with you tonight? The green monster from under your bed might've moved to live under our bed," he raises his eyebrows in over-exaggerated concern.

Lydia knows what Stiles is doing and she's grateful for it. The distraction is good, not entirely smooth, but good. She mouths 'thank you' at him and he blows her a goofy kiss in return.

"Sure!" Cassie agrees easily. "It's like a super special sleepover!" She crawls back into the nest of blankets she left earlier and pats the mattress, "But no snoring, Uncle Stiles!"

"Hey! Rude!" Stiles says, offended, "I don't snore!"

He and Lydia pull back the covers and get into bed on either side of Cassie. Stiles wraps his arms around them both and they settle in quietly. He can feel the tension in Lydia's back, the stiff line of her spine that means she's holding it all in as best as she can. He closes his eyes against the wave of grief and guilt and silently apologizes to Lydia again for ruining everything.

"Yeah, you do," Cassie sighs, her eyes closing. "But, s'okay. Me and Aunt Lyd still love you."

"Good to know," Stiles yawns.

Lydia rests her hand against his hip and rubs her thumb in circles. "Good job getting rid of that monster," she whispers, a weight to her words that means she's not just talking about Cassie's monster.

"It's my specialty," Stiles sighs sleepily, knowing he'll spend the rest of his life trying to keep the monsters away from Lydia.

iii.

Lydia checks the time on the microwave and sighs nervously. Scott and Stiles have been out hunting the latest supernatural being in Beacon Hills since midnight and it's nearing 3 am now. She knows that they're both more than capable of protecting themselves, but she still worries.

It's nice though, that the house isn't empty. Lydia can't quite remember when or how it happened, possibly it was around the time Cassie was born, but whenever Stiles and Scott left to "save the world" (Stiles' words, of course), Lena and the kids came to stay with Lydia.

Stiles drove towards Beacon Hills and danger and Lena drove away from it.

Lydia likes having the McCalls in the house, it makes her feel less alone and safer. The kids always end up riled up and they get to just hang out for an hour or so before Lena sends them all back to bed, leaving the two women to catch up and commiserate over their worry for their husbands.

But tonight it's a little different. Lena and the kids had gone to sleep pretty quickly since Alex had a field trip the next morning and his mom was chaperoning. Jules, fighting a cold, had barely made it through the door awake. Cassie, a senior in high school, had stayed up for twenty minutes before falling into the guest bed with a grumble about how cruel and unusual it was to wake her in the middle of the night.

So Lydia's left awake alone. She's sitting at the kitchen table, absently poking away at the numbers for her current research project. She could do this in her sleep and she practically is, but it's something to keep her mind off the fact that Stiles and Scott aren't as young as they used to be and they're out there, fighting. Of course, the rest of the pack is with them, but forgive Lydia if she doesn't exactly have confidence in Liam and Hayden and the rest of them.

She startles at the sudden noise coming from the kitchen door. "Oh!" Lydia looks up and relaxes, "Cassie. What's the matter, honey?"

Cassie looks at her with wide brown eyes full of straight exhaustion and terror. She's clutching a thick blue binder and tapping her feet a little nervously.

"I COMPLETELY forgot I have a statistics project due tomorrow and I've done none of it," she says frantically, spitting out the words on practically one breath. The messy bun on top of her head bobs wildly as Cassie freaks out.

An amused smirk spreads across Lydia's mouth and she laughs a little. "And you need help."

"Yes!" Cassie breathes in relief, her whole body loosening. "I can't believe I forgot to do this stupid thing."

She shakes her head at her own forgetfulness.

"You've been busy," Lydia says, pulling out the chair next to her. "Senior year is a crazy time." She smiles an enigmatic little smile, "Trust me, I know."

Cassie rolls her eyes affectionately. She knows that her dad's a werewolf and her mom comes from a line of oracles and her aunt is a banshee and her uncle is, well, he's Stiles. She's never been told the details of their adventures, even an attempt at asking means she gets a tight, closed off expression and a clipped, "Not today, Cassie." Occasionally one of them will throw out a little line or an inside joke and it sparks every curious bone in her body.

"Come on," Lydia says, "show me that assignment and I bet I can get it done before the first hour of the Today Show."

"That's in three and a half hours," Cassie says skeptically. "And," she brandishes the thick binder, "I really haven't started any of this project. Which, totally my fault, but ugh. I can't believe I forgot all about this."

"Are you forgetting who you're talking to?" Lydia reminds. She gets up from the table and pops a pod in the Keurig machine on the counter. "I've got you, Bug. We'll get this done. Hopefully even before your dad and Stiles get back."

Cassie drops into the chair and flips her binder open, "Have I mentioned lately how much I love you, Aunt Lyd?"

"Christmas is coming up soon," Lydia teases and pulls Cassie's binder closer. She reads over the assignment and grins, "Oh this'll be fun!"

"I'm glad someone thinks so," Cassie grumbles, leaning back in her chair and rubbing at her eyes.

Lydia and Cassie work on the project for the next two hours, until Cassie is yawning so wide her jaw cracks.

Lydia takes pity on the poor girl and shoos her off to bed with a "don't worry, I'll finish this and I promise not to tell your teacher that a math genius did the project."

Cassie rolls her eyes, but stops to kiss Lydia's cheek before shuffling off to bed. "Thanks, Aunt Lyd. I swear I don't know what I'd do without you."

Lydia works in silence for the next twenty minutes, adding in small mistakes here and there because she knows that as smart as Cassie is, there's no way the teenager would do this project perfectly. She's almost done with the mapping when the back door opens.

Scott and Stiles traipse in, filthy and exhausted. Lydia's whole body relaxes, as the anxiety and tension seep from her muscles.

"You're back," she breathes.

"Yeah," Scott yawns. "Sorry we were so late."

He drops a kiss to the crown of Lydia's head and says, "I'm gonna crash. See you in the morning?"

"Good night, Scott," Lydia says warmly. "Sleep tight, don't let the werewolves bite."

Scott lets out a laugh that sounds a little bit like a bark and traipses up to the guest room.

Lydia turns in her seat to look at her husband. He's leaning against the counter, still in his uniform, dark circles under his eyes standing out starkly against pale skin.

"Are you okay?" Lydia murmurs, concern lacing every syllable. She doesn't yet make a move to touch him. Stiles can - some of these supernatural calls get dark. They make him go to mental places he hasn't been to since he was a teenager and she worries. She worries so much.

"Yeah," he says, subdued. He's not at peak Stiles and it doesn't look like he's going to want to talk any time soon.

Lydia bites her lip. "Come help me with Cassie's project," she says, trying to distract him. He's not as good as she is, but Stiles is smart. Cassie's statistics project will be just enough to drag him from the thoughts that are swirling in his overactive brain.

"Yeah, okay," he agrees and sits down, looking at the paperwork. His forehead creases, "Lyds? This number's wrong."

She blows a laugh through her nose, "Yeah, I know. Had to make a few mistakes so her teacher doesn't get suspicious."

Stiles shoots her a sly grin, it doesn't quite reach his eyes, but she'll take it.

"Always knew you were sneaky and smart," he says, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. Lydia leans into the kiss, briefly thinking that maybe she and Stiles should take a vacation to someplace warm.

They finish Cassie's project quickly and head up to bed. Just an hour or two later, it's time for Lydia to get ready for the day. She slips out of bed soundlessly, leaving Stiles snoring gently.

She gets ready quickly before joining Lena and the kids in the kitchen. Cassie grabs her into a huge hug before Lydia's even said good morning.

"Thank you soooo much! Oh my god, I can't believe you and Uncle Stiles finished the project for me. I don't know what I'd do without you," Cassie gushes, grinning happily.

Lydia laughs and hugs her back, this bright, bubbly girl that reminds her painfully of Allison sometimes. "It wasn't a problem, hon. Just maybe don't leave the projects until the last minute next time?" she winks and gratefully accepts the mug of coffee Lena offers.

iv.

Stiles slips out of bed without waking Lydia. He's been awake for hours, waiting for the call from Scott that the new baby is here.

Cassie and Jules are tucked away in the guest room. Lydia had read them a story and then Stiles had read two more, unable to resist the puppy dog eyes that both girls had mastered.

When he and Lydia had crawled into bed, he'd been exhausted and hoped that he'd be able to sleep through the night. Not that exhaustion hadn't been beaten into submission by his insomnia before. Excitement for the baby and general anxiety keeps Stiles awake though.

So now he slips out of bed, intending to get the dog and cuddle him for a while and maybe he'll put on the original Star Wars trilogy and see how far into it he can get before Lydia wakes up or Scott calls. If he's lucky, he'll fall asleep before Han and Luke even rescue Leia.

Stiles is humming a little under his breath, fingers tapping against his thigh as he jogs down the staircase. Maybe he'll make himself some hot chocolate too. No coffee, definitely, but hot chocolate is fine. Usually.

A few minutes later, the mug is hot in his hand, stinging a little bit and Yoda is licking at his ankles as he hits play on the DVD. Stiles leans his head back against the couch and half-listens to the movie as he zones out. Tiny fingers poke at his cheeks.

"Wha-?" Stiles flails, slopping lukewarm hot chocolate onto himself and the couch. He blinks owlishly as Cassie comes into focus. "Cassie! What the heck, kid?"

"I'm thirsty," the 6-year-old sighs, long suffering. "And Jules kicks."

Stiles laughs and puts the mug down on the coffee table. If it leaves a ring, Lydia will kill him, but he doesn't worry about that now. Instead, he turns to Cassie and raises an eyebrow.

"Did you kick her back?" he asks, teasing.

Cassie wrinkles her nose and looks a little guilty. "Yes," she admits reluctantly, kicking her bare toes against the couch. "But I didn't feel good about it."

Stiles laughs. Yeah, this is Scott McCall's kid for sure.

"Don't worry about it, Cass," he says, swinging his legs off of the couch, "Your sister won't even remember in the morning. How about we get you something to drink?"

Cassie nods, "Yes, please."

She follows him into the kitchen, stepping carefully over Yoda since the mutt has fallen asleep, all spread out, right in the kitchen doorway.

"Dumb dog," Stiles shakes his head affectionately, leaning down to pat Yoda on the stomach.

Cassie spies the canister of hot chocolate mix on the counter and her eyes light up. "Can I have that?" she asks, immediately pouting when Stiles shakes his head.

"Nah, it'll keep you up all night. I'm making you some warm milk. It'll knock you right out and you won't even notice Jules kicking you," he laughs, getting a mug down from the cabinet and pointing Cassie to the fridge for the gallon of milk. She dutifully retrieves it and leans against the counter, arms crossed, as she watches Stiles pour.

She's quiet while the milk heats up in the microwave, but Stiles can tell that she wants to say _something_.

It's not until she's got the warm mug in her hands that Cassie says, "Can I stay here with you and Aunt Lyd?"

Stiles, slouched against the counter, hands stuffed in the pockets of his sweatpants, tilts his head at his niece. "How come?"

Cassie shrugs and looks down into the mug. She mumbles, "Mom and Dad are gonna be busy with the baby and Jules. No one's gonna be worried about me."

Stiles nods, yeah, he thought this might be a problem. Or, _Lydia_ thought this might be a problem, especially with how Cassie had behaved after Jules' birth. So his genius wife had made sure Stiles was prepared for this conversation.

Although, being Stiles, he completely disregards Lydia's advice and says simply, "sure."

Cassie looks at him with wide eyes, "Really?"

"Yeah," Stiles shrugs, "I don't see why not. We have room. Do you want us to adopt you too, or will you stay Cassie McCall?"

She shakes her head, "I still wanna be me!"

"It'll be a little weird," Stiles says nonchalantly, ticking off names on his fingers, "There's me, Stiles Stilinski, and Aunt Lyd, Lydia Martin-Stilinski, and even Yoda Chewbacca Stilinski. But you'd be a McCall. The mailman might get confused and none of your presents from Isaac would come here. They'd go to your old house and Jules and the baby would probably keep them."

Cassie's frowning, "I don't want them to have my presents. That's not fair! And I wanna stay a McCall!"

"I guess that means you'll have to stay with your mom and dad," Stiles grins. Cassie scrunches her eyebrows at him.

"I can't be sure, but I think you tricked me," she squints at her uncle, giving him a look that reminds him scarily of Scott. He leans forward and drops a quick, slightly spastic kiss to the top of her head.

"You'll never know!" he winks and gently nudges her towards the stairs. Cassie grumbles all the way up.

v.

Lydia sits upright in bed, blinking in the darkness and listening carefully. She frowns, reaches out and nudges Stiles' side.

"Stiles," she hisses, "Get up. I hear something."

Stiles groans and mutters unintelligibly. Lydia shakes his thigh.

"I'm serious, Stiles," she says again. "There's something downstairs."

"It's just Yoda," Stiles grumbles, flailing a bit and rolling over, taking the covers with him. Lydia glares at his back and swings her legs out of bed.

"I'm going to look and if I die, you're going to be really angry with yourself," she says, only a little bit meanly. Stiles rolls over and grins at Lydia.

"You'll be fine," he says. "You didn't scream. It's all good."

She flips him off over her shoulder and grabs one of his hoodies to pull on over her t-shirt. She involuntarily nuzzles into the fleece, they're warm and they smell like Stiles, even if he is way too old to be wearing hoodies so frequently.

Lydia skips down the stairs quickly and hugs the hallway wall before poking her head into the kitchen.

She's definitely surprised by who's in there.

"Hi, Aunt Lyd," Cassie sniffles, tears making her dark mascara trail in little rivers down her cheeks.

"Cassie!" Lydia gasps, rushing forward, her hands flying to make sure the teenager isn't hurt. "What happened?" she demands, hands shaking against Cassie's thin shoulders.

Lydia's concern sends Cassie into further hysterics. She shakes in her seat as Lydia wraps her arms around her. Lydia strokes Cassie's hair and whispers nonsense. Nothing is physically wrong with Cassie, as far as Lydia can tell, so this has to be an emotional problem.

"Cassie, honey," Lydia sighs, "Tell me what's wrong and I can help."

"He…he b-broke up with me!" Cassie wails through her tears, clinging tightly to Lydia and crying into Stiles' hoodie.

"Matt?" Lydia questions dumbly. Cassie had been dating the lacrosse team's captain for almost six months now. Scott and Stiles had grumbled about him, overprotective dad and uncle that they were, but Lena and Lydia had found him to be a good kid. He had his moments, as all 18-year-old boys did, but he was sweet to Cassie.

Cassie nods against Lydia and cries harder.

Lydia hears footsteps and then the one creaky step that Stiles was supposed to fix years and years ago. She looks up just as the aforementioned non-handyman walks into the kitchen. His hair is sticking up in all sorts of directions and he looks adorably sleep-rumpled despite the fact that he's 45 and 45-year-olds aren't considered 'adorable' anymore.

"What's wrong?" he asks quietly, surprisingly unsurprised to see Cassie in their kitchen at 2 in the morning. He leans, casually, against the doorframe, but Lydia can see the tension in his shoulders, the tight coil that's ready to snap at any moment. Cassie's not his kid, but he would do anything to protect her from even the smallest of hurts.

She sighs, "Boy problems," and Stiles' lip curls back.

"I knew that kid was no good. Do I have to kill someone?" he says it with a forced lightness, very nearly a joke, but Lydia knows her husband, has known him since they were 16 and she shakes her head at him.

"Stiles," she breathes his name, warning, and he holds up a hand in surrender.

"Got it," he says, lightness more natural now. "Not the time for jokes. I'll just go call Scott and tell him that Cass is staying here for the night."

He hesitates before stepping forward and running his hand over Cassie's head before cupping the back of her skull. "You'll be okay, kiddo," he says, sounding so much like his dad that Lydia's knocked back in time for a split-second.

Cassie nods and sniffles and offers up a watery smile. Stiles kisses the top of her head and says, "I'm gonna leave you in Aunt Lyd's capable hands. She knows plenty about idiot teenage boys."

He shoots Lydia a little wink and the couple shares a small smile when his quip gets a laugh out of Cassie.

"Thanks, Uncle Stiles," she sniffles again and wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand. Lydia winces at the makeup smears hat are all over Cassie's face now. He salutes them goofily and heads back upstairs.

Lydia kisses the top of Cassie's head and heads for the fridge. She pulls out the gallon of milk and a block of chocolate. "Time for hot cocoa?" she asks, rhetorically since she knows what Cassie's answer will be.

"Thanks," Cassie says softly. She sheds her jacket and tucks her feet up on the chair. Lydia sets about making the hot chocolate, working silently since she knows Cassie will talk when she's ready.

The milk is boiling and the chocolate is melting when Cassie says, "He was kissing another girl."

Lydia nearly drops the spoon as she whirls around on her heel, furious on behalf of her goddaughter. "What?" she snaps, eyes flaring. "How dare he!"

Cassie chews at her lower lip. There's clearly more to this story.

Lydia pours out two helpings of steaming cocoa and sits in the chair opposite Cassie.

"I wouldn't sleep with him," she says quietly, hands wrapping securely around the hot porcelain. She looks down at the table but Lydia can clearly see the tears that are gathering in her eyes again.

"That's absolutely no reason for him to cheat on you," Lydia says firmly.

Cassie looks up, her eyes a little wild. "But maybe, if I had –"

"No." Lydia cuts her off firmly.

"No?" Cassie repeats.

"No," Lydia says with a nod of her head. "You shouldn't ever, ever have sex before you're ready or with someone who you don't love. You have to know your body and know your mind. High school boyfriends come and go, but the emotional trauma of being with someone before you're ready? That takes a while to get over."

Cassie bites down on her thumbnail. "But, if I had, Matt wouldn't have cheated on me."

"If you had," Lydia says softly, "then he maybe would've stuck around for a few more weeks or months before moving on. If he doesn't respect you enough to wait, then he's not worth your time."

"I think I loved him, Aunt Lyd," Cassie says after sip of her drink.

Lydia thinks back to a different 18-year-old that had said those same words. She remembers the feeling of knowing you were in love, but not whom with. Lydia knows that not all 18-year-olds have the chance to feel that way. She also knows that Cassie is not in love, not with Matt. But she doesn't want to shut her down and tell Cassie what she should and shouldn't be feeling.

So she sighs and reaches out to squeeze Cassie's hand. "Honey, your feelings are valid, they're so valid. I know how hard it is to go through your first heartbreak, but trust me when I say you won't be this sad forever."

"Guys suck," Cassie sighs and drops her forehead to rest on the table. Lydia laughs.

"You definitely don't have to tell me that," she agrees. "Now come on," she nudges Cassie's calf with her bare foot. "Let's get into the guest bed and watch some stupid comedies. I think you need to laugh."

Cassie smiles gratefully and jumps up from the chair to link arms with Lydia. "Thanks, Aunt Lyd. I'm sorry I woke you and Uncle Stiles up. I just couldn't go home and the party we were at was closer to here anyway."

"You don't have to explain," Lydia says. "And you're always welcome here. Stiles and I are always here for you."

A few hours later, when Stiles wakes up to start his shift, he pokes his head into the guest room to check up on Cassie and Lydia. He laughs when he sees that they're tangled in the sheets, empty chocolate wrappers on the bed and the main menu for _American Pie_ open on the TV.

He knows Lydia's neck is going to be killing her when she wakes up because of the angle that it's at, but he also knows that she'll think it was worth it.

Stiles sets an alarm on Lydia's phone, knowing that they'll both be mad if they miss work and school, but he drapes a comforter over them anyway.

"Sleep tight, girls," he whispers, flicking off the hall light as he leaves.

* * *

 _A/N:_ _Huge, huge thanks to writergirl8 and kavileighanna for the ideas for the five different scenarios. I've been writing this fic for weeks and I finally, finally have it finished in time for Teen Wolf Tuesday! Let me know what you think :)_


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